right and wrong

poglet1991

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i was watching a local show this weekend and one of the girls from my yard took her pony in the 80cm. he has never done anything more than clear round at a show and is quite nervy, and also it was the hottest day of the year. she took him in and at the 2nd jump he started running out (bear in mind hehas never seen brightly coloured poles or fillers), she kept turning circles and whipping him until on the fourth attempt he jumped it, now normally its three refusals and out, so me personally i would have taken him over a jump he'd already done to end on a good note. however she carried on with the round whipping him all the way with a schooling whip and she was turning him out of most jumps then whipping him. everyone on my yard seems to agree that what she did was right however i think that as she was sent out of the ring on a bad note surely she has just ruined the horses confidence for next time. if he was a very naughty pony then maybe a short whip used less would be fine provided she was riding forward to the jumps. i just wondered what people thought
 
If she had been at a BS show, she'd have been disqualified after 2 refusals & from the sound of the whipping she was doing she would have been called to the judges box to be spoken to regarding her conduct.

I am also of the opinion that what she did was not constructive & did nothing to bolster confidence in the horse. Horses jump for you because they want to jump & they enjoy it, beating a horse around a course achieves nothing :(
 
As horrible as that sounds for the poor pony (and I do hope she finds a supportive and decent instructor who can help her plan her outings better) I have no idea why this is posted? You don't need advice, or your views justifying. Even my brother, who can hardly tell one end of a horse from another, knows that behaviour is unfair and cruel. All you want to do is pillory a local rider for screwing up- you'd be better off saying this to her or offering her advice or lesson shares...
 
well everyone was telling me i was in the wrong and that it would be soft to allow the horse not to do the round as it would learn to take the mess. and i could not believe a whole yard could be so ignorant plus many spectators at the show. i just wanted to see what the general opinion was. she is not a member of h&h nor is anyone from my yard so i know this would not create any trouble but would just give me peace of mind x
 
oh and i did offer her advice and have been slated by the whole yard. no one one my yard has an instructor the only reason i do is because i split my time between home and university and my mare comes with me
 
this post reminds of an old story:
There was a rumour that ''they'' give away cars in Moscow.
On closer inspection, it turned out that it wasn't in Moscow, but in Kiev, it wasn't cars, but bicycles and they weren't given away, they were stolen...

What I'm trying to say is, if ''the whole yard'' and ''the spectators'' didn't agree with you, OP, maybe, just maybe what you are describing here is not what you actually saw.
 
this post reminds of an old story:
There was a rumour that ''they'' give away cars in Moscow.
On closer inspection, it turned out that it wasn't in Moscow, but in Kiev, it wasn't cars, but bicycles and they weren't given away, they were stolen...

What I'm trying to say is, if ''the whole yard'' and ''the spectators'' didn't agree with you, OP, maybe, just maybe what you are describing here is not what you actually saw.

that is your opinion, and u are entitled to it. however i know i come from a very ignorant yard people on my yard are taught that if the horse doesnt do it make it. in all honesty i think getting away from it and going to uni was the best thing for me and my mare. however i just wanted to know what people thought of the situation so that i wasnt being unreasonable in talking to the girl
 
It's hard to mistake seeing a horse whipped from jump to jump!! sometimes people are to scared to go against a big personality, who makes a statement they disagree with for fear of getting jumped on .
Would you want to jump again if you got whipped to and from every jump, it should have chucked her on her ass
 
that is your opinion, and u are entitled to it. however i know i come from a very ignorant yard people on my yard are taught that if the horse doesnt do it make it. in all honesty i think getting away from it and going to uni was the best thing for me and my mare. however i just wanted to know what people thought of the situation so that i wasnt being unreasonable in talking to the girl

I have to agree with you, Poglet. These types of people do exist and can make up the majority of a yard. I always remember years ago when I first got my mare and she was napping badly when hacking. I was advised to 'give her a good thrashing'. This was a sentiment shared by the majority of the people on the yard. I think yards have a culture. Some are softly softly, some are tough and gritty. Luckily, there are some that lie somewhere inbetween.

In answer to your question. Yes, the girl was wrong to do what she did and yes, you are right to be concerned about it.
 
It's hard to mistake seeing a horse whipped from jump to jump!! sometimes people are to scared to go against a big personality, who makes a statement they disagree with for fear of getting jumped on .
Would you want to jump again if you got whipped to and from every jump, it should have chucked her on her ass

This ^^ You see it often enough (even on this forum ;)).
 
possibly she thought he'd settle half way round if she could persuade him that far.

The first time I took Brown Horse out he refused to go up to the top of the ring and he did get several smacks. After a few jumps towards the collecting ring he had to turn back up that way and again decided to refuse to go up there so he got a few more smacks. I could have brought him out (I had definitely been eliminated by this point but was kindly allowed to continue) but I didn't and then all of a sudden the penny dropped and he worked out what was going on and had a lovely time. I'm sure at least a couple of people thought he was being horribly mistreated but he went in the next class and jumped round as happy as larry

Sometimes it's a fine line trying to decide what is the right thing to do. Perhaps she genuinely thought the horse would settle after a few fences.

Just a thought and all that.
 
My view on this...?

Is that the show organisers and the SJ judge in particular, should step up to the bar and grow some balls. This does not sound like acceptable behaviour and the majority of competitions have rules to prevent just this. If this sort of behaviour (by anyone, I am being general here, not specific) is condoned by no announcement ie; Eliminated or excessive whip usage, then management, as much as anyone, is at fault.

I know that at our local shows a rider behaving like that would be asked firmly to leave the ring, and the announcement about whip abuse would be very loud, and very clear. Knowing our lot a rider would be boo'd out of the ring too.
 
Sadly there are many people in the horse world who are quick to punish and slow to consider that maybe the horse wasnt just being naughty.
 
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